Category: 下午茶会

他向她求婚时，只说了三个字：相信我；
她为他生下第一个女儿的时候，他对她说：辛苦了；
女儿出嫁那天，他搂着她的肩说： 还有我；
他到她病危的那天，重复的对她说：我在这；
她要走的那一刻，他亲吻她的额头 轻声说：你等我。
这一生，他没有对她说过一次“我爱你”，
但爱.......从未离开过。

五只猴子关在一个笼子里，笼子上头有一串香蕉，实验人员装了一个自动装置：若是侦测到有猴子要去拿香蕉，马上就会有水喷向笼子，这五只猴子马上会被淋湿。
首先有只猴子想去拿香蕉，马上水喷出来，每只猴子都淋湿了；每只猴子都去尝试了发现都是如此。于是，猴子们达到一个共识：不要去拿香蕉，因为有水会喷出来。
后来实验人员把其中的一只猴子换掉，换一只新猴子（称为A猴子好了），关到笼子里，这只A猴子看到香蕉，马上想要去拿，结果被其他四只旧猴子海K了一顿，因为其他四只猴子认为新猴子会害他们被水淋到，所以制止这新猴子去拿香蕉。这新猴子尝试了几次，被打的满头包，还是没有拿到香蕉，当然这五只猴子就没有被水喷到。
后来实验人员再把一只旧猴子换掉，换另外一只新猴子（称为B猴子好了），关到笼子里，这只B猴子看到香蕉，当然也是马上要去拿，结果也是被其他四只猴子K了一顿，那只A猴子打的特别用力，（这叫老兵欺负新兵，呵呵！）B猴子试了几次总是被打的很惨，只好作罢。
后来慢慢的一只一只的，所有的旧猴子都换成新猴子了，大家都不敢去动那香蕉，但是他们都不知道为什么，只知道去动香蕉会被人扁。
这就是「传统」的由来。 传统不去反省它，就没有价值！

一家生意很好的点心店门口来了一个乞丐。他衣衫褴褛，浑身散发著一种怪味，当他畏缩著走到蒸点心的大炉子前时，周围的客人都皱眉掩鼻，露出嫌恶的神色来。
伙计急忙呵斥乞丐要他滚开。乞丐却拿出几张脏乎乎的小面额钞票，说：“今天我不是来乞讨的，我听说这里的点心好吃，我也想尝尝。我已经想了好久了，好不容易才凑到这些钱。”
店老板目睹这一幕，他走上前十分恭敬地将两个热气腾腾的点心递给乞丐，并深深地向他鞠了一躬，说：“多谢关照，欢迎再次光临！”
在这之前，无论多么尊贵的客人来买点心，店老板都交给伙计们招呼；可今天他却亲自招呼客人，对他毕恭毕敬，而这个客人却是一个乞丐！
店老板解释说：“那些常来光顾我们店的顾客，当然应受到欢迎，但他们都是有钱人，买几个点心对他们而言，是一件很容易也很平常的事.
今天来的这位客人虽然是位乞丐，却与众不同，他为了品尝我们的点心，不惜花去很长时间讨得的一点点钱，实在是难得之至，我不亲自为他服务怎么对得起他的这份厚爱？”
"既然如此，为什么要收他的钱呢？”旁边的孙子不解地问。
老板笑笑说：“他今天是作为一个客人来到这里的，不是来讨饭的，我们应当尊重他。如果我不收他的钱，岂不是对他的侮辱？我们一定要记住，要尊重我们的每一个顾客，哪怕他是一个乞丐；因为我们的一切都是顾客给予的。”
这个店老板就是两次被《福布斯》评为世界首富的日本大企业家堤义明的爷爷,他对乞丐的鞠躬之举深深地印在了当时只有十岁的堤义明的脑海里。后来堤义明曾多次在集团的员工培训会上讲到这个故事，要求员工像他爷爷那样，尊重每一个顾 客。
　　可以想像，这里的“尊重”绝不是社交场合的礼貌，而是来自于人心深处对另一个生命深切的理解、关爱、体谅与敬重，这样的尊重绝不含有任何功利的色彩，也不受任何身份地位的影响；惟其如此，才最纯粹最质朴也最值得回报。

The only way to get love is to be lovable. It's very irritating if you have a lot of money. You'd like to think you could write a check: I'll buy a million dollars' worth of love.' But it doesn't work that way. The more you give love away, the more you get.
Warren Buffett
American Business Magnate and Philanthropist

Fear is not
our enemy.
It is merely
a compass
pointing us
to the areas
where we need
to grow.
Steve Pavlina
Motivational Author and Speaker

你们开始过基督徒新生活之际，所听到的训令就是「彼此相爱」。在旧约救恩史上最初的杀人故事中，加音作恶杀了自己的弟兄亚伯尔，显示出他的邪恶行为，相对而言，亚伯尔就显得正义。
基督徒在世界中活出爱来，必然会引起世界的恼恨，因为这份爱激怒了不愿意爱的人。为了爱我们的弟兄（姐妹），我们的旧我必须死亡，好让基督在我内生活（迦 二 20）；换言之，那不愿意爱的人，他的生命仍处于旧我的死亡中；耶稣基督曾说过恼恨自己的弟兄，就是杀人（玛五21-22），没有永生。耶稣基督为了救赎 我们而舍弃自己的生命，是我们最好的模范。谁若有资源，眼见弟兄（姐妹）急难，却没有对他伸出实际的救援，就是与基督的爱相违，在他内没有天主的爱。
孩子们，爱要以行动实行出来，如果这样做，可认出我们属于耶稣基督，并且在祂面前可以平安；虽然我们的行动不足，致使良心自责，我们仍可安心，因为天主全然明了。若我们的良心不自责，便能在天主面前坦然无惧。
www.ccreadbible.org

If you awake every morning with the thought that something wonderful will happen in your life today, you'll often find that you are right.
Nancy Sathre-Vogel
American Mom, Author and Motivational Speaker

Professor : You are a Christian, aren’t you, son?
Student : Yes, sir.
Professor: So, you believe in GOD?
Student : Absolutely, sir.
Professor : Is GOD good ?
Student : Sure.
Professor: Is GOD all powerful ?
Student : Yes.
Professor: My brother died of cancer even though he prayed to GOD to heal him. Most of us would attempt to help others who are ill. But GOD didn’t. How is this GOD good then? Hmm?
(Student was silent.)
Professor: You can’t answer, can you ? Let’s start again, young fella. Is GOD good?
Student : Yes.
Professor: Is satan good ?
Student : No.
Professor: Where does satan come from ?
Student : From … GOD …
Professor: That’s right. Tell me son, is there evil in this world?
Student : Yes.
Professor: Evil is everywhere, isn’t it ? And GOD did make everything. Correct?
Student :Yes
Professor: So who created evil?
(Student did not answer.)
Professor: Is there sickness? Immorality? Hatred? Ugliness? All these terrible things exist in the world, don’t they?
Student : Yes, sir.
Professor: So, who created them ?
(Student had no answer.)
Professor: Science says you have 5 Senses you use to identify and observe the world around you. Tell me, son, have you ever seen GOD?
Student : No, sir.
Professor: Tell us if you have ever heard your GOD?
Student : No , sir.
Professor: Have you ever felt your GOD, tasted your GOD, smell your GOD? Have you ever had any sensory perception of GOD for that matter?
Student : No, sir. I’m afraid I haven’t.
Professor: Yet you still believe in Him?
Student : Yes.
Professor : According to Empirical, Testable, Demonstrable Protocol, Science says your GOD doesn’t exist. What do you say to that, son?
Student : Nothing. I only have my faith.
Professor: Yes, faith. And that is the problem Science has.
Student : Professor, is there such a thing as heat?
Professor: Yes.
Student : And is there such a thing as cold?
Professor: Yes.
Student : No, sir. There isn’t.
(The lecture theatre became very quiet with this turn of events.)
Student : Sir, you can have lots of heat, even more heat, superheat, mega heat, white heat, a little heat or no heat. But we don’t have anything called cold. We can hit 458 degrees below zero which is no heat, but we can’t go any further after that. There is no such thing as cold. Cold is only a word we use to describe the absence of heat. We cannot measure cold. Heat is energy. Cold is not the opposite of heat, sir, just the absence of it.
(There was pin-drop silence in the lecture theater.)
Student : What about darkness, Professor? Is there such a thing as darkness?
Professor: Yes. What is night if there isn’t darkness?
Student : You’re wrong again, sir. Darkness is the absence of something. You can have low light, normal light, bright light, flashing light. But if you have no light constantly, you have nothing and its called darkness, isn’t it? In reality, darkness isn’t. If it is, were you would be able to make darkness darker, wouldn’t you?
Professor: So what is the point you are making, young man ?
Student : Sir, my point is your philosophical premise is flawed.
Professor: Flawed ? Can you explain how?
Student : Sir, you are working on the premise of duality. You argue there is life and then there is death, a good GOD and a bad GOD. You are viewing the concept of GOD as something finite, something we can measure. Sir, Science can’t even explain a thought. It uses electricity and magnetism, but has never seen, much less fully understood either one. To view death as the opposite of life is to be ignorant of the fact that death cannot exist as a substantive thing.
Death is not the opposite of life: just the absence of it. Now tell me, Professor, do you teach your students that they evolved from a monkey?
Professor: If you are referring to the natural evolutionary process, yes, of course, I do.
Student : Have you ever observed evolution with your own eyes, sir?
(The Professor shook his head with a smile, beginning to realize where the argument was going.)
Student : Since no one has ever observed the process of evolution at work and cannot even prove that this process is an on-going endeavor. Are you not teaching your opinion, sir? Are you not a scientist but a preacher?
(The class was in uproar.)
Student : Is there anyone in the class who has ever seen the Professor’s brain?
(The class broke out into laughter. )
Student : Is there anyone here who has ever heard the Professor’s brain, felt it, touched or smelt it? No one appears to have done so. So, according to the established Rules of Empirical, Stable, Demonstrable Protocol, Science says that you have no brain, sir. With all due respect, sir, how do we then trust your lectures, sir?
(The room was silent. The Professor stared at the student, his face unfathomable.)
Professor: I guess you’ll have to take them on faith, son.
Student : That is it sir … Exactly ! The link between man & GOD is FAITH. That is all that keeps things alive and moving.

某家公司有一个传统，每年圣诞夜都会举办晚会，并举行抽奖。抽奖的规矩是这样的：每个员工都会缴交十元美金做为基金，全公司共有三百人，换句话说共能募集到三千美金，而被抽中的幸运儿，就可以将这些钱全抱回家。
抽奖当天，办公室洋溢着热闹的气氛，每个人纷纷在纸条上写下自己的名字，投进抽奖箱中。但是，一个年轻男子下笔时却犹豫了。因为他想到，公司的清洁阿姨体弱多病的儿子最近要开刀，但她却没有钱支付手术费用，让她非常烦恼。
于是，尽管知道抽中的机会渺茫，只有三百分之一的机会，但男子还是在纸条上，写下了那名清洁工的名字。
紧张的时刻来临了，老板在抽奖箱中翻搅了一番，最后抽出一张纸条，而男子也在心中不断地祷告：「希望清洁阿姨可以得奖……」
接着，老板慎重宣布得奖人的名字……奇蹟发生了！中奖的竟然真的是那位清洁工！
办公室爆出欢呼声，清洁阿姨连忙上台领奖，几乎喜极而泣的她，感动地说：「我真是幸运！有了这一笔钱，我儿子就有希望了！」
晚会开始，男子一面想着这个「圣诞奇蹟」，一面踱步到抽奖箱旁。他顺手摸出一张纸条，漫不经心地打开一看，上面写的，竟然也是清洁阿姨的名字！男子非常吃惊，接连又抽出好几张纸条，上面的字迹虽然不一样，但写的名字全都相同──都是那清洁阿姨的名字！
男子红了眼眶。他赫然明白，世界上真的有圣诞节的奇蹟，只不过，奇蹟不会从天上掉下来，而要人们自己去创造。
当我们陷于低潮的时候，都希望有奇蹟降临在我们身上；但当我们有能力的时候，是否愿意去做那个创造奇蹟的人呢？
Author unknown
greatly appreciated

徒弟擦一面镜子，边擦边说：“这镜子可真是贱货，几十元买了这么一大面！”　
师父笑着说：“你可别小看了这镜子啊！它可以当你的老师呢。”
“哦？”徒弟也逗趣说，“不知这镜子老师将何以教我啊？”
“不管什么东西，只要放到镜子前面，它都映得出吗？”师父问。
“当然”
“那么东西移开后，镜子里还留有余影吗？” 师父问。
“那怎么会呢？”
“这就是智慧啊！”师父说：“这叫'物来则应，过去不留。'徒弟，你在生活中能到'事来则应，事过即忘'吗？”
“不能”徒弟说，“想不到这镜子还有点门道，还有吗？”
“多得是”，师父说：“比如孔孟先师或帝王将相来照镜，你说镜子会因为高兴加倍细心吗？”
“不会”徒弟答。
“如果乞丐、弃儿来照镜，镜子会因厌恶而应付了事吗？”
“不会。”
“这就叫'在圣不增，在凡不减。'又叫与圣人居而不喜，与凡夫居而不忧，你做得到吗？”师父问。
“做不到！还有吗？"徒弟兴冲冲地问。
“当甲物体正在照镜子时，镜子会一边照甲又一边惦念乙吗？”
“不会”。
“这叫把握当下，而无所住。你做得到吗？”
“做不到！还有呢？”徒弟穷追。
“镜子映现红色物体时，其本身会不会也变成红色？映现绿色时会不会本身也成绿色？”
“不会。”
“镜子本身虽不变色，却仍能红来现红，绿来现绿，是不是？”
“是，这叫什么？”徒弟问。
“这叫'随缘不变，不变随缘'。你做得到吗？ ”
“做不到，还有吗？”徒弟还不解渴。
“镜子映人映物、映狗、映水、映火、而本身玻璃的本质却始终不变，你明白吗？”
“明白了”，徒弟感叹地说，“想不到一面小小的镜子，竟蕴含了这么多道理！真是物物皆可为师。